President Barack Obama is scheduled to posthumously award America's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to Harvey Milk, one of the country's first openly gay elected officials. The award will be accepted at a White House ceremony August 12th by Stuart Milk, the nephew of the late San Francisco Supervisor and civil rights activist.

"The President's action today touches the core of our very human hearts and my uncle would be so proud of this high honor.  His election was, for him, a beginning-a chance to make real change. That change is happening, but we still have so far to go," said Stuard Milk in a prepared statement. "I hope this recognition inspires LGBT Americans everywhere to heed Harvey's call to run for office, to serve openly, to live proudly with authenticity and to demand the equality that we all deserve."

American tennis great Billy Jean King, who is openly lesbian, and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, who has championed LGBT equality throughout his political career, also will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the August 12 ceremony. Kennedy was honored by the Victory Fund in 2004 with its Oates-Shrum Leadership Award in recognition of his tireless work on behalf of LGBT Americans.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award created to honor especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, or world peace, or cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.

Copyright © 2009 Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership Institute

BAGHDAD — The young man turns to the camera and pleads with his tormentors.

"I'm not a terrorist," he tells the Iraqi police who surround him. "I want you to know I am different. But I am not a terrorist."

To some fundamentalist Iraqi Muslims, Ahmed Sadoun Saleh was worse than a terrorist.

He was gay. He wore his hair long and took female hormones to grow breasts. Amused by his appearance, Iraqi police officers stopped him in December at a checkpoint in a southern Baghdad neighborhood dominated by radical Shiite militias. They groped Saleh and ridiculed him.

The assault was captured on video and circulated on cellphones throughout Baghdad, says Ali Hili, founder of London-based Iraqi LGBT, a group dedicated to protecting Iraq's gays and lesbians. Shortly after the video was made public, Hili says Saleh contacted him, fearing for his life, and asked for his help to flee Iraq.

As many as three explosive devices reportedly detonated in two track stadiums of the Outgames in Copenhagen, leaving one person with minor injuries.

Before the men’s 4x200-meter track relay in the afternoon, two bombs were thrown onto the track and exploded instantly, according to a witness writing in an e-mail obtained by Advocate.com. An Outgames athlete was taken to a local hospital with injuries to his right hand from flying shrapnel. He has since been released.

Participants on the field were unharmed but shaken by the incident. Less than an hour later, a second bomb was thrown in another stadium. Luckily, no one was injured, but track events were delayed for 90 minutes. Police now have a 31-year-old male suspect in custody.

This is the second violent incident in less than a week for the Outgames.

Read the rest of this article by clicking HERE

A major slash to the State Budget made today by the Governor will result in critical changes to health services for the people of California. HIV/AIDS programs were drastically compromised by the Governor's actions. Read the story here: Schwarzenegger Slashes Health Care To Create A Surplus

Here is your latest installment of Diva Say What?  The GayFresno.com advice column.  Hosted by none other than Diva X.
Please enjoy and be sure to post your question for Diva and posts your comments below.  She's here to help!

The Get Engaged Tour , organized by Marriage Equality USA, was a recent set of meetings held throughout the state of California, including one here in Fresno, which I participated in with other local LGBT groups and activists. The meetings solicited communities to come out, listen to results of polling data concerning public opinion on same sex marriage, and to offer up opinions and ideas of how the battle for marriage equality should move forward. The tour ended a couple of weeks ago, with the results shared at a summit held last weekend in San Bernardino. You can watch some of the video of the summit HERE. (Apparently technical problems resulted in some video being lost, and be prepared for a difficult time watching some of the meeting, as the camera was swung and jerked around far too much and audio is less than great. How about setting the camera up in one place in the back of the room so we don't get a headache and we can at least follow the conversation?)

From virtually all honest accounts, the meeting was not good. Contentious and divided, there still seems to be no clear strategy in sight. Unite The Fight called the meeting an utter failure on their blog, going into great detail about our now fractured movement. The blog hit more than a few nails on the head when it pointed out that anyone with a different point of view in this movement is ridiculed and has their head bitten off, and that a few massive egos are derailing any chance of unity simply because they want to be the ones with the brass ring in their hand at the end of the ride. (I'll add that I couldn't find anything on the Unite the Fight site about who runs it, and blog entries are simply credited to "Unite The Fight". And with such a strong opinion in the blog about unity and not ridiculing other groups, it seems strange that in their list of action sites, virtually everyone is mentioned with the exception of EQCA.) UPDATE: Phillip Minton with Unite The Fight contacted us and explained that the absence of EQCA was an oversight due to the fact that when the list was created EQCA did not have a field and canvassing program on the ground. Phillip stated that EQCA would be added to the list.

 

 

To view the final results of the Get Engaged Tour meetings, compiled by Marriage Equality USA, click HERE

Just a month ago I made the biggest decision of my life. I packed up my bags, kissed my family and friends goodbye and I moved here, to Fresno, from Gawler, South Australia. Three weeks ago, it was the best thing I’d ever done, woohoo. Two weeks ago, I was wondering what in the world I was thinking, because I was so... damn... lonely. And bored. One week ago, I sucked it up and decided that since there wasn’t a line of friends on my doorstep ala Mary Poppins and the nannies every morning, I should probably go out and try and make my own fun. Thus, my time as a volunteer writer for Gayfresno.com was born.

When Gayfresno.com suggested that I cover the Grizzlies Celebrate Marriage Night, I agreed pretty quickly. I was going to the game anyway, so what’s the harm in checking it out and writing a little piece about it? Right? It wasn’t until I was walking up to the gates that it kinda clicked. I was a lesbian walking into what I figured would amount to a pro-8 Celebration Night. It made me suddenly feel like I had a target painted onto my back.

A honking great rainbow one.

 

UPDATE: JUDGE ORDERS MCINERNEY TO STAND TRIAL FOR THE MURDER OF LAWRENCE KING, STATING THAT THE MURDER WAS CLEARLY PRE-MEDITATED. CLICK HERE FOR THE STORY.

Lawrence King, at the age of 15, was shot and killed by a classmate on February 12, 2008. His pre-trial began Monday, July 20th, 2009. Tactics were vivid on the first day. Vivid, and tragically repetitive.

Defense attorney Scott Wippert seems to be taking the path to a gay panic defense for his client, Brandon McInerney. (There is also such a thing as a "trans panic" defense, which has been used in defending someone when the victim was transgender) When questioning one of the police officers involved, Wippert asked if the officer was aware that King had been making sexual advances toward McInerney, which "provoked" him. He added that King "taunted" McInerney with his "effeminate" ways.

In 2009, the year that would have been Harvey Milk's 79th birthday, 31 years after he was murdered by a man who got off easy because his lawyers argued he was stressed, complicated by the fact that he had too much sugar in his system, the infamous "twinkie defense", it's demeaning to see crazy tactics still being used in courts of law.

And I can see it working in this case. Remember, the boys were just that, boys, and as such, can often find excuses as flimsy as this in courts of law. Their minds aren't fully developed yet, they don't have the judgment that adults are supposed to have. Add to this the fact that King was dressing in girls' clothing, something Americans can't seem to deal with to this day, and you can see how this might go. If Americans are still so repulsed by the idea of flirtation by someone of the same sex that they're willing to use it as an excuse for cold blooded murder, you can also see how far we, as a movement, have yet to go.

Something's really wrong with Americans. The fact that so many other countries are evolving into humans, rather than subjects, should urge us to some epiphany to the error of our ways. It should be an emergency, what's happening to Americans whose biology falls somewhere outside pure heterosexuality. Despite evidence, despite truth, despite the promise of protection from the constitution and the courts, we've become the only minority in this country who are not allowed equal rights. And with gay bashings on the rise and lawyers willing to do anything to keep murderers free, who knows how much more hell we have to go through.

Maybe, just maybe, all this hope that we've put into the American people is fruitless. Maybe, just maybe, we aren't smart enough or strong enough to shoulder simple things like human sexuality, or truth. I've learned a tragic fact in recent years. Maybe, just maybe, Americans, in a slight majority, are too stupid to move forward.

Read more about the Lawrence King trial by clicking HERE

When I first heard of the federal case for same sex marriage I agreed with some of the things I read. Maybe this was the wrong time. Maybe it was doomed to fail, based on the history of other challenges which weren't supported by a majority on a state level.

I've been there since, wondering what the right answer is. I still don't know, in terms of legal success. But after reading a recent article, written by David Boies, one of the lawyers in the case, I'm hopeful.

I've never felt this issue had anything to do with anyone's personal opinion, as those voting to restrict civil rights, do. This is a matter of law, of reverence to the words as written in our founding documents. The reason Christians and others opposed to legal same sex marriage avoid the constitution is because there's nothing that can help them there. The constitution only hurts them, destroys them, in fact, supporting none of their platforms.

Until recently, Americans who denounce non-heterosexuals and deny us our rights, haven't had much to worry about. It's only in our very recent history that we've demanded marriage equality. While it's been tossed around in the past, it's never been anywhere near as big an issue as it is now, and it's never had such a large group of Americans behind it. In the past, it wasn't running through conservative minds that certain legal judgments, which were based on the equality of the constitution, would open the doors for gay marriage in the future. The idea that non-heterosexual Americans would demand marriage equality was ridiculous. It wasn't on their radar.

Somehow, this issue of marriage equality, which is a simple and clear cut case of equal rights for all Americans, has been hijacked to the "will of the people". Despite the fact that the California Supreme Court ruled only last year that to deny same sex couples the right to the word marriage was to, in effect, deny them equality, they ignored their own decision and allowed the majority to restrict the minority. This isn't how law works in this nation. Why did it go that way? I don't know, but it sounds like the lawyers in the Federal Case know exactly what the truth of this issue is, and they intend to present it.

Even though I'll work with others if a ballot measure becomes a reality, I don't believe for one second that it's the right thing to do. It may be our only option at this moment, but it's certainly not right for us to take equal rights to the ballot box when we denounce others for doing it. So, hopefully, a federal case can be heard and can succeed, and put an end to this insanity.

The article by David Boies begins with this...

"When I got married in California in 1959 there were almost 20 states where marriage was limited to two people of different sexes and the same race. Eight years later the Supreme Court unanimously declared state bans on interracial marriage unconstitutional.

Recently, Ted Olson and I brought a lawsuit asking the courts to now declare unconstitutional California's Proposition 8 limitation of marriage to people of the opposite sex. We acted together because of our mutual commitment to the importance of this cause, and to emphasize that this is not a Republican or Democratic issue, not a liberal or conservative issue, but an issue of enforcing our Constitution's guarantee of equal protection and due process to all citizens."

Our battle has never been so eloquently presented as it is in this article, in my opinion. Read the full article HERE

Short answer: The moral high road matters.

Long one: We kept saying it over and over during the election. "Why are we voting on civil rights? We aren't supposed to be voting on this." So, why is it okay now?

Well, I get the "it's the only way to win" argument, but I still don't agree with it. I don't believe in winning at all costs, especially at the cost of others. Because, as soon as we promote voting on civil rights ourselves, we open Pandora's Box. We lose the ability to claim outrage at it. When the next group loses their civil rights to a majority vote, how can we then say "we never should have voted on that", when we promoted that very thing. We cannot have it both ways.

But, that other thing we lose is the ability to fight this. This has happened once. Once can be an aberration. Once can be fixed. Twice? Twice becomes problematic, because the second case can now refer to the first as precedent. Three times? Now, this is "the way we've always done it."

Winning or losing is not really the issue. We could probably win on this. If not in 2010, then in 2012. But, then what happens in 2014? In 2016? Do we have to do this every two years? Will we win every time? Will people meet, fall in love, propose and then have to wait for the election to see what happens? Or hurry up and get married before the election, so they don't have to wait two more years for this to happen all over again?

Okay, now this is only my argument over what could happen to same-sex marriage. What about everyone else whose rights could be put out there? The trans community comes to mind. What if someone proposed a constitutional amendment banning the changing of your legal sex? Could that pass a popular vote? Transgender people are even less understood than the LGBT community, even among LGBT people. A radio show host in Sacramento even said that if he ever had a transgender child, he would "beat his son with one of his own shoes". He also said "I look forward to when they go out into society and society beats them down." He and his co-host dedicated a half-hour of their show towards gender dysphoric children and all of the ill they wished them.

When confronted with what they said (and a heavy loss of advertising), the two hosts defended it as a joke and denied doing anything wrong. A glance at the half dozen comments on there put half in each camp. So, half of the people on there thought that there was nothing wrong with advocating violence against a child, and a few invoked it as a First Amendment right.

Do you really want to chance that going up for a vote? (While I realize there were only three comments against these children and for the radio hosts, in my opinion, that is three too many. That there were only six comments and fully half thought the hosts did nothing wrong and one even said they would boycott the advertisers that pulled their ads? Well, that chilled me to the core.)

The courts need to decide this. Maybe they will be smart enough to know that the correct answer is equality, maybe they won't. But, more than one amendment was trashed on the way to this mockery of a law, so I think we have a chance. At least we won't be following bad with bad.

Why is the idea of a little civil disobedience so distasteful to some people? Why is it considered so wrong to fight a little harder for something you passionately believe in? Why are people worried about offending others, about pissing people off? This isn't a popularity contest. This is a fight for civil rights, for the same rights others have. The same rights, I might add, that someone else fought for, and possibly died. Weird, huh, how that is not considered the same thing. Weird, how going to a foreign country and pretty much destroying it and killing hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, in the process is not considered worse than a sit-in or a protest.

Now, to be clear, I am not talking about any form of violence. No one gets hurt and no property is destroyed. At worst, someone might be inconvenienced. But, I would never advocate for violence and that is definitely not what I am speaking of here. I am talking about a peaceful demonstration that might be just a little outside what the law allows for. Maybe.

The thing is, we need to be heard. And the way to be heard is to be loud, to yell at the top of our lungs, that we will not keep sitting in the back of the bus. Or, as my friend, Pam put it, we will not go back into our silk-lined closets, no matter how nice they may be. You don't get heard by speaking sweetly. We've tried.

Like I said, this is NOT a popularity contest. No one needs to like us. No one needs to be us. No one even needs to agree with us. So, why do we care about pissing anyone off? Why do we need their approval?

Oh yeah, because someone allowed civil rights to be put on the ballot. Because someone thought it was okay to vote on the rights of others.

This is not the time to be nice. This is the time to take back what was ripped from our constitution. This is the time to scream back and say "NO!" This is the time to stand up and fight back, to refuse to pander to the majority so they might, pretty please, give us our rights back.

This is not a time for silence.

Introducing our very own Sara Scott. She is a local friend, author and fellow crusader in the equality battle. Among other accomplishments, Sara has just written and published her first book, BloodRite: Dominique. The book officially launches on August 31, 2009 but you can pre-order the book NOW! Sara has graciously decided to donate 25% of her book sales to the Courage Campaign, starting now through August 19, 2009. So don't delay, support a local author and support our cause for equality all at the same time. Visit her website at www.sarasscott.com to find out more about her, the book and also to pre-order your copy today! Stay tuned for book signing dates and events soon!!

Purchase your tickets Online NOW!  Deadline is August 11th
 

Ani DiFranco
Special Guest: Anais Mitchell

Purchase tickets IN ADVANCE!

Presale is active NOW

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 8:00 PM (Doors open at: 7:00 PM)

Tower Theatre 815 East Olive Ave., Fresno, CA 93728 (559 485-9050)
All Ages. $37.00 All seats. Tickets available from Tower Theatre Box Office
All seats are $5.00 Higher Day of Show!

Buy your tickets NOW!

A "kiss-in" drew about 60 people sporting pink paper hearts to the sidewalk just off of LDS Church property near Temple Square on Sunday to protest actions taken by the church's security personnel late last week.

Dozens of gay and straight couples smooched, posed for photos and talked with reporters while church security issued a few reminders to stay on the sidewalks.

But, as the gathering was beginning to disperse, about 35 protesters crossed onto church property and walked around the reflecting pond, eliciting a call to police by church representatives.

Kim Farah, spokeswoman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, issued a statement about Sunday's action.

"Church security asked the demonstrators repeatedly not to come onto the plaza to demonstrate," Farah said. "Though the requests were issued calmly and respectfully, demonstrators ignored the requests, and the police were phoned."

Click on the following link to read the rest of this story...Couples Pucker Up To Make Positive Point

By JENNIFER STEINHAUER Published: July 10, 2009

Reverend Eric Lee spoke eloquently and honestly at Fresno's "Meet In The Middle". To view the video of his speech, click HERE

LOS ANGELES — The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the 50-year-old civil rights organization founded by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and others, is seeking to remove the president of its Los Angeles chapter in response to his support of same-sex marriage in California.

The effort by the Atlanta-based organization is meeting stiff resistance in Los Angeles from both the board of the local chapter, whose chairman is secretary of the state’s Democratic Party, and the City Council president.

During the battle last fall over Proposition 8, an amendment to the State Constitution that banned same-sex marriage, the chapter’s president, the Rev. Eric P. Lee, was more than a tangential figure for the opposition. He was front and center at an opposition group’s large rally at City Hall and marched in the blazing sun for 15 miles in Fresno. Many other local African-American pastors prepared mailings featuring church leaders in support of the proposition and linking their views to Barack Obama, then the Democratic nominee for president.

Mr. Lee “was very helpful to us,” said Rick Jacobs, head of the Courage Campaign, a left-leaning political action group in Los Angeles that fought the initiative.

For the rest of this article, click on the following link...CIVIL RIGHTS GROUP DIVIDED OVER GAY MARRIAGE

 

Close your eyes.

I want you to imagine the person of your dreams.  Maybe you’ve already met them, maybe you haven’t.  This is the person who makes your heart skip a beat when you walk into a room.  This is the person you never want to be apart from.  This is the person that you live your life for, your soul mate.

Now, imagine your life with them.  Imagine doing all of the things a couple does; movies, dinner, lazy, Sunday mornings.  You go on vacations, you visit family and you come home together and do all of your laundry.  You take turns doing the dishes.  You snuggle up and watch television together.  You make a home.

But, what if one of you is sick?  Then you don’t leave their side.  You sleep in hospital chairs.  You hold their hand and you comfort them.  You become their advocate.  You take your own strength and you give it to them.  You become their rock.  Because that's what you do for the person of your dreams.  You live, breathe and sleep for them. 

So, why is this not universally understood?  Maybe it’s because most of the world would automatically picture this as a man and a woman.  That’s not unusual, considering most of the world is straight.  But, what if I were to say that for one woman (actually, many women) the person of her dreams was another woman?  How would you react?  Would you just say “Oh, okay” and go on your way?  Or would you keep her from the person she loves? 

Would you force her to wait in the chair outside the ER?  Would you make her keep checking back in to find out the admitting status of her loved one?  Would you ignore any information she gave you and do the opposite?  How, exactly, would you treat her?

Today marks the 233rd anniversary of the United States of America declaring its independence from Great Britain. I hope today finds each of you well and happy and able to celebrate in the way you see fit. I read the Declaration of Independence this morning, as I do each Fourth of July, and I marvel at its elegant straightforwardness, listing our grievances and declaring our sovereignty over ourselves. I always, however, cringe at certain things in it. The use of the words “man” and “mankind” throughout linguistically excludes the female population. The reference to Native peoples as “merciless Indian Savages” is also cringeworthy. We know these are not “just words,” as some would protest. Our history, while so positive in so many ways, shows that we actively visited upon women and Native Americans (among others) many of the very offenses we were declaring intolerable by Britain in this historic document.

This is not to ‘America-bash,’ as some might argue. These are simple facts that need to be squarely (if painfully) faced time and again for us to continue to mature into that “more perfect union.” Those words, along with those in our Constitution that characterize people of African descent as “three fifths” human, need to be faced for many reasons. One reason related to our organization, S.A.F.E., is that they remind us that things change. At one point in this country, people considered women biologically disinterested and too driven by emotion to be responsible voters, much less property or (gasp) office holders. At one point, the subjugation of people of color was thought to have been warranted, even commanded, by Scripture. While there is still much work to be done on both of those (and many other) fronts, our concerns focus on the un-equal treatment of our LGBT family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and fellow citizens. As a people, we have seen fit to grow past the thinking of our Founders’ times, and, however imperfectly and slowly, have rejected those words—“man,” “mankind,” “Savages,” and “three fifths of all other persons.” This proud history of growth informs us that we are a dynamic nation, willing to recognize our imperfections and thus change, even when that change means acknowledging the faulty thinking of our iconic Founders.

As such, on this Fourth of July, I recommit myself to convincing as many people as possible that the conventional thinking related to what makes a family, what makes a marriage, what makes a man or a woman needs to be rejected. Just as this country has rejected slavery, prohibition of women’s rights, discrimination in many forms, we need now to end discrimination of our LGBT population. A healthy family can be comprised of a mother, father, and children, sure. An equally healthy family, however, can also be comprised of a single father and his daughter, two lesbians and their daughter and son, a transgendered person and her partner, two gay men and their three kids, a bi-sexual woman with her male partner and their blended family of five children, or even two straight people with no children—only two cats and two pugs!

Many historians characterize America as an amazing yet immature civilization, not as criticism, but as mere fact. We haven’t been around that long in comparison to many other nations. As such, some have theorized that while we are mature far beyond our years in many ways, we are in our adolescence in a number of areas. I believe this country is beginning now to grow up some when it comes to recognizing that lesbian and gay and bi-sexual and transgendered people are a perfectly natural part of the tapestry comprising America (and the world). They are an extremely vital, indispensable part of our nation. In fact, “they” are us. We are all human beings seeking survival—maybe a little comfort, maybe a bit of happiness.

So, as you celebrate with your friends and family today, I hope you and yours are well and happy. I hope you are surrounded by people who make you feel safe and loved and valued. I hope, too, that we all remember that as citizens of this union, we are obligated to contribute to its further maturation toward the equal treatment of all of its diverse citizenry. I further hope we remember that millions of our fellow citizens today do not feel safe, loved, or valued because their nation has declared them second-class citizens, unworthy of participating in marriage—unworthy of defending this great nation that they love and to which they contribute so greatly. As a member of S.A.F.E., you are helping our country grow up some more. You are helping your fellow citizens of all sexual orientations to feel more safe, more loved, and more valued than they felt before you stepped up to speak out. My most sincere thanks to you for your help in this cause. Happy Fourth of July.

Jerry Thurston, President
Straight Advocates For Equality

UPDATE: WE'VE ADDED THE VIDEO CLIPS COMPILING THE DOCUMENTARY "MIDDLE SEXES" TO OUR GAY FRESNO YOU TUBE PAGE, UNDER OUR "FAVORITES". SIMPLY CLICK ON THE YOUTUBE LINK, UNDER OUR "ONLINE" MENU ON THE MAIN PAGE AND YOU CAN WATCH THE VIDEOS.

Last year I highly recommended the HBO Documentary, "MIDDLE SEXES - REDEFINING HE & SHE". The film explores all forms of human sexuality and gender identity. Narrated by Gore Vidal, it's forthright, honest and revelatory. These issues have become commonplace in the media over the last few years, and although I'm constantly doing research for pieces I write on Gay Fresno, I wasn't finding the answers I needed on subjects such as being transgendered or on the topic of sexual reassignment. I simply didn't understand the layers of complexity involved with the human nature between heterosexuality and homosexuality.

This documentary, for me, was a crash course in how it all works. When it was over I no longer felt confused by these issues. While I'm not suggesting one film can answer all questions, this one covers enough to bring these issues into focus.

Today I accidentally stumbled upon a YouTube User channel which has uploaded this documentary in several short videos. For those who've either been unable to see the film on HBO or find the DVD, this is an easy, free opportunity to see this incredible work. Simply click on the following link...YouTube User - Middle Sexes Documentary

"Middle Sexes" is also available on NETFLIX , or it can be purchased at the HBO STORE or at AMAZON 

Article by: Brittany Reyes
Photos by: Nigel Medhurst

Wednesday, June 17, 2009 marked the one year anniversary of the brief legalization of same-sex marriage in California. Same-sex couples and their supporters met at the historic Water Tower in downtown Fresno to renew their vows and take group photos. The celebration continued throughout the night at the popular North Tower Circle club and bar where guests were offered complimentary flowers, appetizers, champagne, & cheesecake courtesy of various organizations in the community that support marriage equality. It was a well planned event complete with entertainment by singer Lily Dale Murray and Andalee's Eastern Sun Dancers.

The history of The North Tower Circle club and bar was a common topic as guests who hadn't been to the club since its reopening in October of 2008 spoke of the hate inspired arson that literally burned the club to the ground, and remarked at how the establishment has flourished since then. Couples came from all over to share their stories and in that intimate setting, the tales of love, marriage, hurt, pain, and redemption caused one to remember exactly why we as a community continue to come together. One couple drove out from Lemoore and told the story of how they met only two years ago. When asked why they chose to get married the gentleman replied, “We felt like it was now or never, you never know when you are going to get an opportunity like this again.”

Indeed, those words could not be closer to the truth for what was meant to be a joyous occasion could not escape the gravity of the plight of our fellow members in the LGBT community who are still fighting for civil rights. This event will go down on the books as a great success, as the night drew to a close, it left individuals wanting more. Many couples commented on how much they enjoyed the social gathering and expressed the need for more couple oriented events in the future. “This is an awesome anniversary party,” one woman commented, “but it's not enough to just get together once a year, my wife and I go to bars but we want more couple nights like bowling or movie night and stuff.”

Hopefully, that eager woman will get her wish. Oftentimes in the struggle for our dreams, we forget about the simple moments in life that carry us through the trials and tribulations we undoubtedly face in this current battle for marriage equality. This anniversary event inspires us to take a moment to value the relationships that we have whether legally married or not, while remembering all who are still denied that right. For us, success is not an option, it is the standard to uphold for all who are willing to accept the challenge.